Hemispheres:
Northern Hemisphere; divided between Eastern and Western Hemispheres

Time zone:
Noon = noon GMT

Longest distances:
965 kilometers (600 miles) from north to south; 485 kilometers (300
miles) from east to west (Great Britain only)

Land boundaries:
360 kilometers (224 miles), all with Ireland

Coastline:
12,429 kilometers (7,723 miles)

Territorial sea limits:
22 kilometers (12 nautical miles)

1 LOCATION AND SIZE

The United Kingdom (U.K.) is located on the British Isles, an
archipelago off the northwestern coast of Europe. The major islands in
the British Isles are Great Britain (often simply called Britain) and
Ireland; numerous smaller islands are found nearby. Only the northern
part of Ireland belongs to the United Kingdom, with the rest of the
island comprising the Republic of Ireland. At 244,820 square kilometers
(94,526 square miles), the United Kingdom occupies a slightly smaller
area than the state of Oregon.

2 TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES

The United Kingdom has numerous overseas territories and dependencies
scattered around the world. Dependencies in the Caribbean Sea include
the British Virgin Islands (the eastern half of the Virgin Islands),
Anguilla, Montserrat, and the Cayman Islands. The Turks and Caicos
Islands, which also belong to the U.K., are located in the Atlantic
Ocean at the southeastern end of the Bahamas. Other territories situated
in the Atlantic are the archipelagos of Bermuda and Saint Helena.
Further south in the Atlantic are the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas),
the largest of the United Kingdom's dependencies, as well as
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Other dependencies include
the Chagos Archipelago in the northern Indian Ocean; the Pitcairn
Islands in the south central Pacific Ocean; and Gibraltar, south of
Spain's Mediterranean coastline.

Several islands near Great Britain are crown dependencies; they belong
to the country's royal family but are not technically part of the
United Kingdom. They include the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea and the
Channel Islands in the English Channel.

3 CLIMATE

Warmed by the North Atlantic Drift, the United Kingdom enjoys a
temperate climate, with the temperature rarely exceeding 32°C
(90°F) in the summer months or dropping below -10°C
(14°F) in the winter. During the winter, mean monthly temperatures
range from 3°C (37°F) to 5°C (41°F). Mean summertime
temperatures range from 12°C to 16°C (54°F to 61°F).
Rainfall is lightest along the eastern
and southeastern coasts, and heaviest on the western and northern
heights, where annual precipitation can exceed 380 centimeters (150
inches). Average annual rainfall across the country is just over 100
centimeters (40 inches), with rain distributed evenly throughout the
year.

4 TOPOGRAPHIC REGIONS

The United Kingdom has four primary regions: England (130,373 square
kilometers/ 50,337 square miles), Wales (20,767 square kilometers/8,018
square miles), and Scotland (78,775 square kilometers/30,415 square
miles), all on the island of Great Britain; and Northern Ireland (14,120
square kilometers/ 5,452 square miles), on the island of Ireland. Each
has a distinctive topography.

England and Wales occupy the southern half of Great Britain. England is
composed mostly of rolling hills. The highest elevations are found in
the north. In the northwest, a region known as the Lake District
includes a number of small lakes, and the terrain reaches higher
elevations in a range known as the Cumbrian Mountains. In the
north-central region, there are limestone hills known as the Pennine
Chain. In the southwest, a peninsula with low plateaus and granite
outcroppings makes up the region known as the West Country.

Wales is a rugged region with extensive tracts of high plateau. The
Cambrian Mountains cover almost the entire area and include
Wales's highest point, Mount Snowdon (1,085 meters/3,560 feet).
There are also narrow coastal plains in the south and west and small
lowland areas in the north.

Scotland, which occupies the northern half of Great Britain, is
primarily mountainous. Its Highlands contain the highest peaks in the
United Kingdom. South of the Highlands are the Central Lowlands,
containing the valleys of the Tay, Forth, and Clyde Rivers. Beyond this
are the Southern Uplands, with moorland cut by many valleys and rivers.

Northern Ireland consists mostly of low-lying plateaus and hills.

5 OCEANS AND SEAS

The United Kingdom is surrounded by water. The British Isles are
bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the north and northwest and the North
Sea on the east. The Irish Sea lies between the islands of Great Britain
and Ireland. South of Ireland and west of the southernmost tip of Great
Britain is the Celtic Sea. Northwest of Great Britain is the Sea of the
Hebrides. Beyond that sea and its islands are the open waters of the
North Atlantic Ocean.

Seacoast and Undersea Features

About 200 kilometers (125 miles) off the coast of Dundee, Scotland, lies
the Devil's Hole, a series of deep trenches in the North Sea that
reach depths of 230 meters (760 feet). Britain has coldwater coral reefs
at ocean depths of 200 to 1,000 meters (656 to 3,281 feet).

Sea Inlets and Straits

The English Channel lies along the southern coast of Great Britain,
separating it from the European mainland. The narrowest point in the
channel, known as the Strait of Dover, is 34 kilometers (21 miles) wide.
The northern part of the Irish Sea, which separates Great Britain from
Ireland, is known as the North Channel, while the southern part is
called St. George's Channel. The narrow channel between the main
island and the Isle of Wight is called the Solent. The Bristol Channel
separates Cornwall in southeastern England from Wales.

Islands and Archipelagos

By far the largest of the British Isles is the island of Great Britain
(228,300 square kilometers/88,150 square miles), the largest island in
Europe. Ireland is the second-largest isle. Several smaller archipelagos
near Great Britain are part of the United Kingdom. The most extensive
are the Hebrides, off the northwest coast of Scotland. The Orkney
Islands are a smaller archipelago, located just north of Scotland. Much
further north, in the North Sea, are the Shetland Islands. The Isles of
Scilly lie at the other end of the country, off the southwest tip of
England in the Celtic Sea. Besides these archipelagos, there are also
many isolated islands, large and small, near Great Britain. These
include the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, the Isle of Anglesey
in the Irish Sea, and Arran, off the western coast of Scotland.

DID YOU KNOW?

Dug between 1988 and 1991, the Channel Tunnel opened for use in 1994,
at a final cost of $21 billion. At 50 kilometers (31 miles) long, it
is among the longest tunnels on Earth; 38 kilometers (24 miles) of the
tunnel are submerged beneath the English Channel.

Coastal Features

The coasts of both Great Britain and Northern Ireland are very
irregular, with many long peninsulas and deep bays, firths (estuaries),
and inlets. The most even part of the nation's
coastline is the eastern coast of England. Along the southeast coast,
white chalk cliffs that rise to 250 meters (825 feet) border the Strait
of Dover. Several short promontories, including Dungeness and Beachy
Head, mark England's southern coast. The whole of southwestern
England is a peninsula called Cornwall, which extends 120 kilometers (75
miles) west into the Atlantic.

The western coast of Wales curves around Cardigan Bay, at the east edge
of St. George's Channel, with the Lleyn Peninsula at its northern
end. The coastline features rugged cliffs, coves, and sandy beaches.
Further east are Liverpool Bay and Morecambe Bay on England's
northwestern coast. As the coast approaches Scotland, both in the west
and the east, it becomes even more irregular than in the rest of the
country. The broad Solway Firth marks the end of England's
northwestern coast and the beginning of Scotland. It is separated from
the North Channel by a long, narrow peninsula, ending in the Mull of
Galloway. Further north are two more great firths, the Firth of Clyde
and the Firth of Lorn, with another long peninsula, Kintyre, between
them. Further north on the western coast there are numerous narrower but
still lengthy inlets. Cape Wrath marks the northwestern end of Great
Britain.

The eastern coast of Scotland has two deep, broad, indentations, with a
headland between them. Further south is the Firth of Forth. Along the
eastern coast of Northern Ireland is a large sea inlet known as the
Strangford Lough.

6 INLAND LAKES

The largest lake in the United Kingdom is Lough Neagh (396 square
kilometers/153 square miles), in the center of Northern Ireland.
Southwest of Lough Neagh are the Upper and Lower Lough Erne, which
extend across the country and into Ireland. Scotland is a region of many
lakes; here they are called Lochs. Loch Lomond (70 square kilometers/ 27
square miles) is the largest lake in Great Britain. Loch Ness is famous
for its legendary Loch Ness monster. There are no large lakes in England
or Wales. On the northwest coast of England, however, near the border
with Scotland, there is a region called the Lake District containing
many small, picturesque lakes.

7 RIVERS AND WATERFALLS

Rivers are plentiful throughout the United Kingdom, but most are short,
as the sea is always nearby. The longest rivers are found in England and
Wales. The Severn River is the longest in the nation (352 kilometers/220
miles). The Thames (322 kilometers/200 miles) is England's
best-known river and the second-longest in the U.K., with more than
forty locks. Other English and Welsh rivers include the Humber, Tees,
Tyne, and Great Ouse in the east, and the Avon, Wye, Dee, and the Exe in
the west. Scotland's river system is largely separate from that
of England. The two major rivers of Scotland's central lowland
are the River Clyde and the River Forth. Scotland's longest
river, the River Tay (188 kilometers/ 117 miles), is farther north.
Northern Ireland's major rivers are the Erne and the Foyle, which
marks part of the border with Ireland.

8 DESERTS

There are no deserts in Great Britain.

9 FLAT AND ROLLING TERRAIN

Most of England consists of low plains and rolling downs (uplands),
particularly in the south and the southeast, where the land does not
rise higher than 305 meters (1,000 feet) at any point. Running from east
to west on the Scottish border are a series of sandstone ridges known as
the Cheviot Hills, and from north to south from the Scottish border to
central England are the Pennines. South of the Pennines lie the Central
Midlands, a plains region with
low, rolling hills and fertile valleys. Southern England is the site of
three ranges of low hills, the Cotswolds in the west and the North and
South Downs in the east. The Rannock moor lies in the center of
Scotland, at an elevation of 303 meters (1,000 feet). Foothills surround
the mountains of Scotland and Wales. The majority of Northern Ireland
consists of low plateaus and hills. In the east, small hills called
drumlins
surround the area of Strangford Lough.

10 MOUNTAINS AND VOLCANOES

The United Kingdom has no tall mountains by world standards, but there
are many lower, rugged ranges. The Highlands of Scotland are dominated
by the Grampian Mountains and their subsidiary mountain ranges. Ben
Nevis (1,343 meters/4,406 feet), the highest peak in the United Kingdom,
is in this region, and there are more than forty peaks that rise higher
than 900 meters (3,000 feet). At the southern end of Scotland are the
Southern Uplands, with summits of 838 meters (2,750 feet).

The Cumbrian Mountains are the highest mountains in England. They are
located in the northwestern Lake District. Scafell Pike (978 meters
/3,210 feet) is the highest peak in the range. Farther south, the
Cambrian Mountains occupy most of Wales and house its highest peak,
Mount Snowdon. The Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons are located in
southern Wales.

11 CANYONS AND CAVES

Numerous caves of all sorts are distributed throughout Great Britain.
Many are in limestone karst terrain in England and Wales. Sea caves are
abundant in Scotland, including Fingal's Cave, which inspired a
composition of the same name by the nineteenth-century German composer
Felix Mendelssohn.

12 PLATEAUS AND MONOLITHS

The West Country of England, located on the southwestern Cornwall
Peninsula, is the site of Exmoor and Dartmoor, low plateaus with granite
projections. The Cairngorm Plateau in Scotland, located adjacent to the
mountains of the same name, is a broad, barren desert-like region with
an elevation of more than 1,220 meters (4,000 feet).

13 MAN-MADE FEATURES

The Channel Tunnel is a set of tunnels underneath the Strait of Dover
that connects southeastern England to northeastern France. An extensive
series of canals in England links many of its southern rivers and
cities. A canal runs across Scotland to connect the Clyde and the Forth,
while the Caledonian Canal cuts across northwestern Scotland. There is
also a canal connecting Lough Neagh with the Irish Sea. Great
Britain's major bridges include the Clifton suspension bridge in
Bristol; the Humber Bridge in Yorkshire; the Forth rail bridge in
Scotland; and London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, and the Millennium
Bridge, all in London.